Ilya Bryzgalov can see the “logic” in Joseph Stalin’s actions and thought the former leader of the Soviet Union did what needed to be done to rebuild a country that was overrun with spies and criminals with guns.

Also, the Flyers’ goalie doesn’t like the oldness of Philadelphia — he likes “newer, cleaner” cities like Boston, Vancouver, and Dallas — though he does enjoy the cheesesteaks.

And he thinks there are too many people in America on welfare that don’t want to work.

That, and more, in Bryzgalov’s latest candid interview, this one with Russian sports site Championat (Google Translate).

yes, I too use under-informed Russian goaltenders to validate my political views

f2maestro - May 15, 2013 at 11:50 AM

I wasn’t using Bryz to validate my ‘political views’ I was simply agreeing with something he said. I know more than my fair share of people who enjoy not working and don’t bother even looking for a place of employment as they know they can be supported by the Government for as long as they choose.

no - May 15, 2013 at 11:56 AM

ah, the well regarded “no, I know somebody” defense

I have no choice but to cede the discussion

Stiller43 - May 15, 2013 at 12:12 PM

Lol why dont you actually explain your side of things instead of just calling him ignorant and not sharing your views? Cant defend them, huh?

imleftcoast - May 15, 2013 at 12:21 PM

The point is no one wants a political discussion out of Bryzgalov or Thomas. Did I miss when he was working at the soup kitchen and building houses with Habit for Humanity? It’s pretty easy for millionaires to tell the poor what they are doing wrong. The view is awesome from the upstairs in the mansion.

phillyphanatic77 - May 15, 2013 at 1:48 PM

Thank you leftcoast. This guy is a millionaire who I’m sure knows no one on welfare. Not to mention the fact he’s supporting a communist dictator while ragging on the social safety net, which could be considered a socialist policy. Now there’s a huge difference between communism and socialism (which some right-wingers fail to understand) but they do share some similar philosophies. The point is people usually laugh at the outlandish things that comes out of Bryzgalovs mouth, but when he suddenly says something that falls in line with their political views he is praised. Now he has credibility people? The guy is making a killing off a capitalist system while essentially praising communism. He’s a big bucket of contradiction.

And there’s this misguided notion that EVERYONE receiving welfare is some lazy leech. Which is a concept right out of the Rush Limbaugh handbook. There is an unbelievably large wealth disparity gap in this country, akin to the days of the industrial revolution, and our solution is to point fingers at those struggling the most? And there are always racial overtones in these accusations despite the fact that the majority of ppl on welfare are white. Disability, unemployment, welfare, social security, Medicare/Medicaid, etc… these are all programs that are desperately needed. Don’t take Bryzgalov seriously now bc you agree with point that he has no knowledge of.

russia isnt exactly the best example either for economic parity. they have more people in poverty than we do. i’m sure there’s some over there that fit the description bryzgalov gives here but i’d be willing to bet there isnt the same entitlement attitude that we have. people here refuse to work minimum wage jobs that are available because the govt will pay better in the form of food stamps/welfare/medicaid and they can sit at home. they feel because they are american that they are better than or they deserve something more. yet they want to complain that immigrants are coming here to work and work hard at the jobs americans are “too good” for. i have a problem with the people that openly abuse the system and feel no shame about it, most of them are ignorant and dont even know how the govt pays for these programs or they just dont care. they call it a hustle because the govt will give food stamps that they can sell at half price for cash to others in their community who have jobs, so they can go buy drugs until the first rolls around again. those people get the groceries basically for half price then and it f’s up the economy b/c the govt subsidizes most food industries anyway

A lot of people on welfare or food stamps actually do have jobs, but they don’t pay enough. Wal-Mart employees especially, I’ve heard.
There’s always bad eggs, but to say everyone receiving public benefits is a lazy leech is ridiculous.

i dont think anyone said everyone was leeches. just the ones that abuse the system and have generationally been raised to do so…sadly, welfare/food stamps is the modern day form of slavery in america. the more people on it equals more votes for it and the program itself certainly doesnt advocate for improving your economic situation. as a politician all you have to do is say you would keep it around or make it easier and you’re a shoo-in for office in most districts in america these days.

yeah but jpelle… if you cut out the people that actually work and need assistance, there isn’t that many leeches. I don’t understand how this extremely low # of freeloaders are talked more about than the people that abuse religious tax exemption. we’re losing WAY more to them than some people on food stamps. hell, there was a whole city a while back that filed for religious tax exempt status because they were part of the church.

i think you’re underestimating the amount of people that abuse the system. i guarantee if they implemented drug testing as a mandatory condition for welfare/food stamps you would see a dramatic drop in the amount that’s distributed. it would pay for the drug screening itself in a week.

Stalin was great……….. at killing Germans and Russians. Purge anyone ? Did I mention Order 227 ? shoot at any Russian soldier retreating or surrending ? Including his own son ?Gulag anyone ? How about one for a certain Goaltender ? Gotta think this guy sniffed way too much glue in some minor league in Mother Russia at one point in time.

don t worry bout that. he is just showing his ignorance. only thing good bout stalin was his hair.

1943mrmojorisin1971 - May 15, 2013 at 1:50 PM

Mustache***

laxman1944 - May 15, 2013 at 11:29 AM

“Houston………we have a problem”……..oye-vey

valoisjoeybfeld69 - May 15, 2013 at 12:00 PM

It’s actually “Houston, we’ve had a problem”. If you’re quoting from the movie, then you are correct. Anyway! Some trivia! On the topic of welfare. It’s ok if not abused by some people. Some out there need help to keep their heads above water while looking for a job, whereas many have a made living on welfare a lifestyle, which has to change. Always remember, you don’t throw away the baby with the bath water.

Really?! He’s been the most interesting interview in the NHL since like 2007. Try to find the video of him describing the cartoons his helmet when he was on the Ducks.
“This is Dahkving Duck, he is hero duck. This is Scrooge McDuck, he is rich duck. I would like to be rich duck.”

JoeAvg - May 15, 2013 at 11:38 AM

I like the picture you chose for this. He looks like Rocky Squirrel about to go after Boris and Natasha. War and Peace indeed.

So assuming Bryz gets bought out (which seems to be inevitable at this point), what destinations and roles make sense? I have two guesses:
1) Back to Phoenix! Coyotes are likely to lose Smith to free agency, perhaps reuniting him with his goalie coach could spark back some more success – just at a cheaper price tag given his last couple of years.
2) To a desperate playoff contender looking to create competition: maybe Edmonton or the Peg?

The issue is complex???? I don’t care if Stalin road a unicorn and cured cancer, the man killed 52 million individuals through intentional plague, and starvation. Think those numbers are inflated? Okay let’s say its 10 million, see he is still a doucher.

nothanksimdriving123 - May 15, 2013 at 5:59 PM

Someone should send him a copy of The Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn. It meticulously documents the Stalinist slave labor system. And Stalin was so brilliant he purged his army of hundreds of its top leaders shortly before WWII, then thought he could trust Hitler.

1943mrmojorisin1971 - May 15, 2013 at 6:32 PM

Stalin purged anybody he thought might possibly be looking at him the wrong way behind his back. Paranoid like no other. But to be fair many other, more competent leaders trusted or at least underestimated Hitler.

drone501 - May 15, 2013 at 12:26 PM

i wouldn’t call moscow hi tech thats for damn sure. philly, get rid of this dums ass. NOW

valoisjoeybfeld69 - May 15, 2013 at 1:06 PM

Well. Hi tech or not, it’s not a pretty site everywhere in Moscow. It old and reeks of the old communist gov’t. 11 million people in one city. Dang! Est in 1147 vs 1682

I still laugh at Rush being employed by ESPN. He gets fired for saying “the media is desirous that a black quaterback do well”. Everybody in Philly knows McNabb was all hype. Then you have Michael Irvin say that Romo must have some african in him (based on his scrambling ability ) and nobody says a word.

Other than the more than 50 million people he’s responsible for killing, I’m sure Stalin is a great guy. The man who’s considered history’s greatest monster, Hitler, didn’t come close to that. That’s scary, and not at all complicated.

Everyone blew right by the Vancouver hint.
Perhaps a straight up trade for Luongo,- well maybe not straight up, the Flyers would have to throw in half of the team with him, but maybe that would solve Vancouver’s bad contract with Philly’s bad contract!

i caught it… but he also said Boston and Dallas and there’s no way he thinks he’s about to go to either of those cities and steal Rask or Lehtonen’s starting job…. or even fill their spot if they’re traded back. i just concluded that it was a random city that he liked to visit since those 3 cities each have very different goalie situations.

here’s bryz shredding on the air guitar.
(up until I went searching for bryz playing an invisible instrument…. aside from his brain…. I never realized that a goalie looks a lot like a crouching air guitarist…. and I even played goalie when I played)

cweez2 - May 15, 2013 at 2:08 PM

Speaking of people who don’t want to work, why don’t you and Ovi go join Radulov in the KHL and collect twice the rubles for half the work?

The Flyers record indicates the employed goalie doesn’t work that hard either. To the gulag with you!!

phillyphever - May 15, 2013 at 7:58 PM

Homer, just please cut this cancer from the team already. He cares more about making an ass out of himself than being a team player. Seriously, who the hell would support this guy as a teammate if all he ever does is attract attention to himself (and not in the good way with his play on the ice)?

Nothing wrong with what he said! I’m glad he speaks his mind. Something Americans no longer appreciate in this whining, metrosexual, PC country!

blomfeld - May 16, 2013 at 1:28 AM

COULD FEHR HAVE BEEN A COMMUNIST ?

Funnily enough, I agree with pretty much everything ‘Bryzi’ has to say here, except for the part about Philadelphia being too old … though perhaps he was talking about the ‘tougher’ part of town eh ? Anyway, just to put things into context, everyone of you PHT blogger guys who own a “peoples car” (ie: Volkswagen) should maybe consider the fact that your cute little ride was originally brought to you by none other than Adolf Hitler himself. That’s right, as his wish back in 1934 was for every working German family to own a new ‘peoples car’ by saving 5 D Mark per week.